Dying dad attends 10-year-old daughter's 'wedding' from hospital bed

For 10-year-old Nakeol Wells, she won't get that chance because her dad is sick, but a special ceremony helped make a memory she will never forget.

INDEPENDENCE, MO (KCTV) -

Having their father walk them down the aisle is something many young girls look forward to when they grow up.

For 10-year-old Nakeol Wells, she won't get that chance because her dad is sick, but a special ceremony helped make a memory she will never forget.

It all began with a ring and her dad's dying wish.

"His baby is the reason he has stayed alive this long," Nakeol's mom, Glenda Wells, said.

It will be some time before Nakeol gets married. But when she does, her father will be there.

"I came up with the idea to have a little ceremony where she could make promises to be faithful to the man she would marry," Wells said.

During the bedside ceremony, the young Taney County, MO, girl made the promise to her father that she will search until she finds a "godly man to marry."

Nakeol's dad, Johnny Wells, has been fighting from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, for the last five years.

On Sunday, he was her dad on her special day, but more than a video, he gave her something else to remember him by.

"He gave me a ring. It is a diamond ring with two hearts," Nakeol said.

It is a ring she is supposed to wear until her wedding day.

But more than just a smile from dad and a keepsake memory that will last forever, the family got feedback from people all over wanting to do the same thing.

"It's been amazing. We have had several people tell us I wish I would have had that when I lost my loved one," Wells said.

Nakeol said later in life when she gets married she is going to play the video before her wedding and her flower girl will wear the dress she wore before her dad - dreams of a little girl and the wish of her father.

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